Ceiling fan and power sockets not working

[radhak]

Seeing that many of you here seem to be well-versed in DIY-things around the house, I am hoping you could help me in some (seemingly) basic problems :

1. My bedroom fan has a a remote with three speeds : low, medium and high. For some days it was running very slowly on the 'high', and now it literally crawls when on 'high'. It runs pretty much okay on the 'medium' speed - ie, it maintains a speed i would expect, which is now much better than the crawl on the high speed!
So is there a simple fix for this, or do I need to buy a replacement fan? I am okay opening up the fan and pulling it apart, but what should I be looking for?
Anything to save the $150 on a new fan (as that money could be better spent, say on the dovetail jig i have not thought up a use for, but am sure will be a vital addition to my shop )!

2. Some of the power sockets on my kitchen counter do not get power since yesterday. Other sockets do. There is a GFCI socket on the counter, that I tried to reset, but it did not help. That GFCI socket does have power, as does another socket close to it. Funnily (happily too), the refridgerator has power, as do the ceiling lights. I searched for another GFCI in the vicinity, but could not find it. Sockets elsewhere in the house do not seem to be affected. The main circuit board in the garage has the switches for all circuits at 'On'.

(when I say 'no power', I mean I cannot get the blender to run).

3. A bathroom exhaust fan stopped working, can it be fixed?...but youknowwhat, maybe i am getting greedy...solutions to the other questions should be good enough for now...

thanks for your time.

[BobSch]

Is the remote for the bedroom fan a wired remote? If so:

1) Make sure the fan itself is set to high speed (set the remote to high, then pull the cord for the speed control on the fan itself until it's on high.)

2) Replace the remote speed control — A $15 control is a lot cheaper than replacing the while fan!

If the remote is wireless, trying to change the speed at the fan may make a difference. Otherwise, there's a remote reciever in the fan. Should be able to replace that for less than the whole fan.

For #2, you said the blender doesn't run. Have you tried anything else in that socket? Plug a lamp in and see what happens. If the lamp comes on, but is dum, you may have a low voltage situation — time to call your friendly neighborhood electrician.

#3. Is the fan on the same switch as the bathroom light and does the light work? If the light works, then the fan is the problem, otherwise see #2 above. I just replaced the motor on my bathroom fan. Remove the cover and get the Mfgr name and model number. then just Google for replacement parts.


If nothing else works, get a voltmeter and check the socket voltages. Sounds like you've got gremlins in the wiring

[scorrpio]

Now those fans with a pullchain that you tug several time to get the right speed usually have a mechanical rotary switch that toggles the contact across various resistors. The switch box is usually real easy to figure out.

With a remote, this switch is electronic. The switch itself works, but switch box will have a whole lot of electronics among which, pinpointing the proper part will be harder. My guess is that 'high speed' path got burned - so you might want to look for something that looks charred.

Outlets: You'll need a multimeter. First, check if you have voltage between a non-working outlet neutral (wide prong) and a working outlet hot (narrow prong).

No voltage means you have a loose neutral somewhere. To make sure, check for voltage between hot and ground. If voltage present, this confirms loose neutral. Start going into boxes of outlets looking for a loose/damaged white wire. Look in both non-working ones and working ones next to them.

Voltage present means problem is with hot. Check the breakers. Most breakers, when they trip, do not go fully to 'OFF' position - but stay just a short ways from full 'ON' - easy to overlook. If all breakers on, remove panel cover. Touch one meter probe to neutral bar, and touch another probe to wire retaining screw of every breaker. If you get no voltage on any of the breakers, that breaker is bad and neeeds replacement.

If breakers ok, you have a loose hot wire someplace. Go into boxes looking for a loose/damaged black.

[Kristofor]

On newer houses around here all kitchen, bath, and garage outlets all have to be GFCI protected. However, they don't have to be all on the same circuit... I have (at least) two "appliance" circuits in the kitchen with separate GFCIs (in the kitchen) and another outlet that's actually on the circuit going to the bathroom on the opposite side of that wall.

I figured this out when the toaster wouldn't work, both GFCI's were okay and I was scratching my head assuming there was an issue with the outlet or wiring until I noticed the lack of power in that bathroom. In my case I blame a visiting ankle biter, but there's a tiny chance it could have been tripped doing its job too I suppose.

So.... Longwinded though it may be, perhaps your issues are related, with one circuit for both your kitchen and fan? Did the fan stop working at the same time or is this an older problem? As an aside, my bathroom lights and fans are not on the GFCI protected circuit, but yours could be I guess.

Kristofor.